Afghan Heroin: The Lost War(2008)

Afgan: The Soviet Experience(en)

During the 1980s, Russia fought a disastrous war in Afghanistan. Shot by a Western crew, the 40 minute film includes footage of combat missions with the Spetsnaz elite units, helicopter gunship pilots from a Kabul-based Air Assault Unit flying missions, the patrolling of the Salang mountain pass and the military hospital in Kabul. Soviet General Lev Serebrov referred to the making of the film as "An experiment in glasnost".

Sons of Haji Omar(en)

Haji Omar and his three sons belong to the Lakankhel, a Pashtoon tribal group in northeastern Afghanistan. The film focuses on his family: Haji Omar, the patriarch; Anwar, the eldest, his father's favorite, a pastoralist and expert horseman; Jannat Gul, cultivator and ambitious rebel; and Ismail, the youngest, attending school with a view to a job as a government official.

Caravan(en)

The four Afghan refugees who have applied for asylum in Austria strike up the song, “The caravan moves on” again and again. Encouraged by the journalist Lucy Ashton to record their lives on their smartphone cameras as a video diary, the friends film their precarious daily routine between visits to authorities, small jobs, and changing accommodations. Yet even when hope is lost, one certainty remains: the power of friendship.

Blood Type(en)

What blood calls a man to war? BLOOD TYPE is a reflective documentary about professional Estonian soldiers in the Afghan war. The deeply personal revelations of the warriors are woven in with footage of their daily dangers, forming an intimate portrait of the soldiers' day-to-day struggles. Their stressful job and haunting fear to lose their legs echo the destiny of Andrei, who lost his leg in the Afghan war two years ago. Having returned to homeland, Andrei gives his all to reunite with his blood brothers on the battle field despite his disability. What is the spiritual journey of a soldier? What kind of responsibility does he have to his brothers in arms, his family, and the locals? By showing the cooperation between Estonians and Afghans, the film is looking for the imprint that might be left behind once the international forces have been withdrawn from the distant Afghanistan.

The Hornet's Nest(en)

Armed only with their cameras, Peabody and Emmy Award-winning conflict Journalist Mike Boettcher, and his son, Carlos, provide unprecedented access into the longest war in U.S. history.

See You in the Obituary(sr)

Made in the form of an extended news report and narrated by journalist Dina Čolić-Anđelković, the film presents a snapshot of the chaotic Belgrade criminal underworld in the early 1990s which sprung up against the backdrop of Yugoslav wars. The film is composed of fragments from interviews with individuals directly involved with criminal activities either through perpetrating them or through trying to stop them.

Life Ahead of Her(fa)

La vie devant elle is the diary of the exile of Elaha, a 14 year old Afghan girl, who films herself with a small camera to tell her story. Through her story, the film portrays the reality of children growing up on the road, tossed from place to place to flee conflicts in the hope of finding a normal life.

Paper Cannot Wrap Up Embers(en)

During the last half-century, Cambodia has witnessed genocide, decades of war and the collapse of social order. Now, documentary filmmaker Rithy Panh looks at an irreparable tragedy that is less visible, yet no less pervasive: the spiritual death that results when young women are forced into prostitution. Angry and impassioned, PAPER CANNOT WRAP UP EMBERS presents the searing stories of poor Asian women whose lives were violated and their destinies destroyed when their bodies were turned into items of sexual commerce.

Mula(es)

Francisco, Isabel, Fco. Javier and David are captured in different parts of the world when they worked as "mules" to overcome the crisis. They tell their stories from the deal that turned them into traffickers to their release from prison.

Afghanistan: War without End?(en)

Key decision makers reveal the inside story of how the West was drawn ever deeper into the Afghan war. Reporter John Ware charts the history of a decade of fighting and looks at when the conflict may end.

STARTING FROM ZERO(en)

STARTING FROM ZERO documents the journey of three refugees — a female boxer, a TV personality and a journalist — caught in the crosshairs following the U.S. military’s sudden withdrawal from Afghanistan. Fleeing for their lives, they are transported to an unlikely luxury compound in Qatar before making their eventual journey to the United States and Germany, where they must restart their lives and confront the deferment of their dreams.

Narcos PQ(fr)

Documentary about the Mexican cartel in Quebec

Marzia, My Friend(fi)

Marzia, My Friend is the story of an Afghan woman in her twenties, who like all young people dreams of love, freedom and an interesting job. She dreams of peace and independence, but because she lives in Afghanistan, her dreams are revolutionary. Ultimately Marzia’s story becomes a symbol of the wider struggle of Afghan women: it is about the right to make decisions about your own life. The film follows Marzia’s life from spring 2011 to the end of 2014, when international troops were due to leave Afghanistan.

Cocaine: History Between the Lines(en)

Cocaine has always gotten a bad rap, and for a reason. It is a drug used by the rich and the poor legally and illegally, Mexican cartels fought over it with Colombia once associated with the brutal cocaine wars, and a source of tension between the American and Mexican borders on the people who are illicitly bringing in cocaine from one side of the border to another and will do anything to do it. So it can be surprising at times to the viewer throughout the course of the documentary special, that it was never always like this.

Electronic Awakening(en)

A documentary following the conscious evolution of electronic music culture and the spiritual movement that has awakened within.

You Can't Stop the Music(fa)

What happens when you can no longer practice the profession that is part of your identity? You Can’t Stop the Music is a portrait from today’s Afghanistan, where life in the shadow of the Taliban can at times seem surreal. When the Taliban took over Afghanistan, Akbar Adeli was a music student at Kabul University. For conservative Afghans, music had been suspect even before the Taliban takeover, but it soon became a gamble with one’s life – especially since Akbar plays Western pop music.

Afghan Star(en)

This documentary on the effect the talent competition "Afghan Star" has on the incredibly diverse inhabitants of Afghanistan affords a glimpse into a country rarely seen. Contestants risk their lives to appear on the television show that is a raging success with the public and also monitored closely by the government.

Krvavý Bagrám(cs)

Ascend(en)

Mina Bakhshi, Haniya Tavasoli and Rabia Hussain had a fair amount of latitude for women in Afghanistan, able to pursue their education, go to work, and explore hobbies and interests. Joining Ascend, a nonprofit organization teaching leadership and rock climbing to women, gave them the chance to test their personal and cultural limits and explore the mountains of their home country. But when the Taliban took over in August 2021, Ascend became their one chance to escape a regime that would restrict their freedoms and future.

Massoud the Afghan(fr)

The friendship between Christophe de Ponfilly and Commander Massoud, a legendary figure of the Afghan resistance against the Soviet invader, goes back to the filmmaker's first film, "A Valley Against an Empire", made in 1981. Fifteen years later, weakened, isolated, betrayed by many of his own, the "Lion of Panshir" has not surrendered to his new and implacable enemies, the Taliban. While preparing his next offensive, he evokes his commitment and his fights, and bears witness to a history in which he has been one of the main actors for twenty years. At the same time, the director questions the role and power of the media, as well as his own approach as a filmmaker. Commander Massoud was killed in an attack in September 2001.